Elastic cord and method of making the same



(No Model.)

Y A. M. ZIBGLER. BLASTIG CORD AND METHOD 0F MAKING THE SAME.

No. 487,042. l Patented NOV. 29,1892.

a300/6M @we @14% 'UNITED STATES PATENT Ormes.

ALFRED M. ZIEGLER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELASTIC CORD AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 487,042, dated November 29, 1892.

Application tiled April 25, 1892. Serial No. 430,581. (No specimens.)

Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusett-s, haveinvented an Improvement in Elastic Cords and Methods of Making the Same, of which the following description, iu connection With the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its objectthe production of a novel elastic cord varying at inter- Vals in its elasticity and, when in its normal unstretched condition, in diameter, the portion of the cord of greatest diameter being the more elastic and adapted to the uses of a spring, While the non-elastic portions of the cord are suitable for being securely held by means of clamps or sewings or other methods of securing` ordinary non-elastic cords.

Figure l shows an elastic cord embodyingk my invention, the same being put into the shape in which the same may be used in suspenders. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrative of the method practiced in the production of my novel elastic cord, and Fig. 3 shows a suspender-end made from a part of my elastic cord.

In the practice of my invention I take a series of elastic india-rubber strands do and group them to form an elastic core or body, and With these elastic threads I preferably add a few fibrous strands b b, the latter serving to limit the extent to Which the indiarubber may be stretched. The elastic or other core` or body threads, one or more and of any desired diameter, may be led from suitable spools, a warp-roll, or bobbins to a take-up and be subjected to more or less strain or tension to thereby stretch or attenuate the said elastic core more orless, the stretching being to such an extent as to bring the core or body to a diameter that with the added covering the diameter will be that desired for the completed cord.

The stretched core or elastic body in its stretched condition is covered by a jacket composed of threads e @,interwoven or interlaced to form a tube, the interlacing of the threads for the most rapid and best results being after the manner of braiding a tube. The threads e e, of any desired number, entering into the jacket may be supplied from any bobbins d or equivalents, such as employed to carry threads in braiding and cord-covering machines.

The cord having been stretched to the extent desired the covering-threads e e are applied thereto by braiding or Weaving, and variations in the angle of presentation of the covering-threads to the longitudinal centerof the stretched core determines the normal elasticity of the finished cord. In my method when the presentation of the threads e c is right-angular to the center of said core the part ot' the elastic cord then being made will have the minimum amount of elasticity, and as the angle of presentation is varied from right-angular the portion of the cord then made Will increase in elasticity as the angle of presentation is less. In other Words, When the delivery of the threads e e is from a point so that they are presented to and inter- Woven on the stretched core, as shown by full lines, or right-angular with relation to the longitudinal center of the core, the said stretched core is so closely bound that when released from its stretched condition or strain in the direction of its length the part of the core so covered cannot contract; but when the presentation of the threads c c is as shown by dotted lines the covering then produced Will let the core contract, and as a consequence that portion of the cord is left elastic, more or less so as the angle of presentation is decreased.

One extended use to which my novel cord may be applied is in personal Wearing-apparel, asin Suspenders for inens Wear, braces for ladies Wear, stocking-supporters, &c.

This novel cord may also be used for suspending objects in ayielding manner-as, for instance, bird-cages, baby-jumpers, :Sncf-and it may also be used in place of the usual rubber tubes in exercising apparatus with good results.

In Fig. 1 I have shown a piece of cord 'G embodying my invention, and in Fig. 3 Ihave shown part of such a cord bent into substantially the shape it Will occupy in one form of suspender-end, and, refering to said ligure, the parts marked g designate the parts of the core covered by the threads ce when presented diagonally to the core, such parts expanding by the contraction of the elastic core to form bulges, While the parts marked g are those at which the presentation of the vthreads c e was more nearly right-angular. The parts g2 differ from the parts g only in that at those points the covering is put on double to afford additional wearing-surface, and this is done by feeding the core backwardly for a short distance after having been once covered and then again in the forward direction, such changes of motion of the core resulting in providin g Athin secondary layers of covering at g2. This makes a strong portion for engaging but-- tons and to come at anyplace where the wear on the cord is to be considerable.

The more nearly the threads c e meet the elastic core at right angles to its longitudinal center the more snugly the core is bound and the less its tendency to return to its normal unstretched condition.

lt will also be noticed in my improved elas` tic orspring cord that the binding of the covering closely tothe stretched cord at some points and not so closely at others not only enables the cover to be prevented from being drawn otf the core, but also defines or locates the points of elasticity, and the covering extended from one to another less elastic or closely-bound portions acts to limit the eX- tent to which the elastic sections may be stretched.

The elastic core may be of any desired cross-section.

The threads e e may be so applied to the core as to form lumps or rings g5g5 to receive between them any suitable fastening device, the said lumps or rings being formed in the core itself. The nonelastic strandslaid in with the elastic strand also add very materially to the strength of the cord, and, as will be readily understood, they limit the extent to which the elastic cord may be stretched between the closely-bound portions.

This elastic or spring cord, it will be noiiced, has a continuous elastic core, thelength of the complete cord thus presenting between its ends a series of bulges separated by smaller or contracted portions.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. A cord having an elastic core extended continuously from end to end thereof and a cover composed of threads interlaced and binding the core more snugly at some points than at other points, thus presenting a cord 4having between its ends a series of bulges separated by smaller or contracted portions, the parts of the core not so closely bound being of larger diameter and possessing the maximum elasticity, substantially as described.

esame 2. A cord having an elastic core extended continuously from end to end thereof and a tubular cover composed of individual threads interlocked about the core to hug some portions ot' the same closely to prevent such portions of the core from resuming their normal or unstretched condition and loosely covering other parts of the core to allow of greater diameter, owing to the contraction of the core, thus affording a springy portion, substantially as described.

3. A continuous elastic core and a cover therefor, said cover being bound more snugly around the core at some than at other parts of its length, whereby the said core presents elastic and non-elastic sections, substantially as described.

4. A continuous elastic core and a cover therefor, said cover being bound more vsnugly around the core at some than at other parts of its length, whereby the said core presents elastic and non-elastic sections, anda secondary cover applied to the closest-wound part-s of the main cover, substantially as described.

5. The herein-described method of making a cord having elastic and no n-elastic sections, which consists in stretching an elastic core, in applying thereto while stretched coveringthreads, changing the angle of the coveringthreads at predetermined intervals in the production of the cover (more or less) with relation to the center line of the core, and braiding the covering-threads about the core thereafter, substantially as described.

6. An elastic or spring cord having elastic and fibrous strands in the core and a cover composed of threads interlaced together and made to bind said core more snugly at some than at other points in the direction of its lengths, the parts of the core less closelyV bound being of largest diameter in the completed cord, the fibrous core-strands acting to limit the extent to which the cord may stretch between its loosely-bound portions when under strain, substantially as described.

'7. A continuous elastic core, a cover therefor bound more snugly around the core at some than at other parts of its length,where by the said cord presents elastic and non-elastic sections, and separated lumps or rings g5, formed in the cover, substantially as described. v

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED M. ZIEGLER. Vitnesses:

GEo. W. GREGORY, EMMA J. BENNETT.

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